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Galder (incantation)

The völvas were pagan priestesses that specialized in chanting galdr s. In old Germanic culture , a galder ( literal translation "}]],"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"lit",...

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The völvas were pagan priestesses that specialized in chanting galdrs.

In old Germanic culture, a galder (lit.'gale-der, yell-der'; Old English: ġealdor, galdor, Middle English: galder; Old Norse: galdr; Old High German: galdar, galstar), among other forms in old Germanic languages, refers to a spell or incantation; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites.[1]

During the Middle Ages, the term galder often became synonymous with "witchcraft" and "magic" as a whole. In Old Icelandic and Old Swedish, a word for witch was "galder woman" (Old Icelandic: galdrakona; Old Swedish: galderkona, gallirkona; lit.'galder-quean'), and the construction also exist in German as Galsterweib (lit.'galder wife').

It was performed by both women and men.[2] Some scholars have proposed they chanted it in falsetto (gala).[2][3]

Etymology

Galder essentially equates to "gale-der", or "yell-der", denoting something of galing (yelling, crying, singing). Descendants are derived from a reconstructedProto-Germanic*galdraz, meaning a song or incantation. The terms are also related by the removal of an Indo-European-tro suffix to the verbs Old Norse: gala and Old English: galan, Modern English gale, both derived from Proto-Germanic*galaną, meaning to sing or cast a spell. In Old High German the -stro suffix produced galster instead.[4]

The German forms were Old High Germangalstar and Middle High Germangalster "song, enchantment",[5] surviving in (archaic or dialectal) Galsterei ("witchcraft") and Galsterweib ("witch", lit.'galder wife').

The Modern Scandinavian word for "crazy" (Danish: gal, Norwegian: gal, Swedish: galen) is a derivative of the same root as galder, and originally referred to someone whose mind has been distorted by a spell.[6] Other related descendants of these words are, Icelandic: að gala ("to sing, call out, yell"), Swedish: gala ("to yell, crowing of a rooster"), the latter component of English nightingale (from nihtegale), related to ġiellan, the verb ancestral to Modern English yell, also cognate with Dutchgillen ("to yell, scream").

Attestations

Old Norse

Some incantations were composed in a special meter named galdralag.[2] This meter was similar to the six-lined ljóðaháttr, also used for ritual, but added at least one more C-line.[7] Diverse runic inscriptions suggest informal impromptu methods. Another characteristic is a performed parallelism,[7] see the stanza from Skirnismál, below.

A practical galder for women was one that made childbirth easier,[2] but they were also notably used for bringing madness onto another person, whence modern Swedishgalen meaning "mad",[3] derived from the verb gala ('to sing, perform a galder').[6] Moreover, a master of the craft was also said to be able to raise storms, make distant ships sink, make swords blunt, make armour soft and decide victory or defeat in battles.[3] Examples of this can be found in Grógaldr and in Frithiof's Saga.[3] In Grógaldr, Gróa chants nine (a significant number in Norse mythology) galders to aid her son, and in Buslubœn, the schemes of king Ring of Östergötland are averted.[8]

It is also mentioned in several of the poems in the Poetic Edda, and for instance in Hávamál, where Odin claims to know 18galders.[1] For instance, Odin mastered galders against fire, sword edges, arrows, fetters and storms, and he could conjure up the dead and speak to them.[9][10] There are other references in Skírnismál,[1] where Skirnir uses galders to force Gerðr to marry Freyr[8] as exemplified by the following stanza:

34. Heyri jötnar, heyri hrímþursar, synir Suttungs, sjalfir ásliðar, hvé ek fyrbýð, hvé ek fyrirbanna manna glaum mani, manna nyt mani.[11]

Translation:

34. "Give heed, frost-rulers, hear it, giants. Sons of Suttung, And gods, ye too, How I forbid and how I ban The meeting of men with the maid, (The joy of men with the maid.)[12]

A notable reference to the use of galders is the eddic poem Oddrúnargrátr, where Borgny could not give birth before Oddrún had chanted "biting galders"[2] (but they are translated as potent charms, by Henry Adams Bellows below):

7. Þær hykk mæltu þvígit fleira, gekk mild fyr kné meyju at sitja; ríkt gól Oddrún, rammt gól Oddrún, bitra galdra at Borgnýju. 8. Knátti mær ok mögr moldveg sporna, börn þau in blíðu við bana Högna; þat nam at mæla mær fjörsjúka, svá at hon ekki kvað orð it fyrra: 9. "Svá hjalpi þér hollar véttir, Frigg ok Freyja ok fleiri goð, sem þú feldir mér fár af höndum."[13]

Translation:

6. Then no more they spake, methinks; She went at the knees of the woman to sit; With magic Oddrun and mightily Oddrun Chanted for Borgny potent charms. 7. At last were born a boy and girl, Son and daughter of Hogni's slayer; Then speech the woman so weak began, Nor said she aught ere this she spake: 8. "So may the holy ones thee help, Frigg and Freyja and favoring gods, As thou hast saved me from sorrow now."[14]

Old English

In Beowulf, ġealdru are used to protect the dragon's hoard that was buried in a barrow:

Him big stódan bunan ond orcas discas lágon ond dýre swyrd ómige þurhetone swá híe wið eorðan fæðm þúsend wintra þaér eardodon, þonne wæs þæt yrfe éacencræftig, iúmonna gold galdre bewunden þæt ðám hringsele hrínan ne móste gumena aénig nefne god sylfa sigora sóðcyning sealde þám ðe hé wolde --hé is manna gehyld-- hord openian· efne swá hwylcum manna swá him gemet ðúhte.

—Old English text[15]
Translation:

Beside them goblets and ewers stood, and dishes lay and precious swords, rusty and eaten through, as had they dwelt there a thousand winters in the earth's embrace. In that day that heritage had been endowed with mighty power; gold of bygone men was wound with spells, so that none among them might lay a hand upon that hall of rings, unless God himself, true King of Victories, granted to the man he chose the enchanter's secret and the hoard top open, to even such among men as seemed meet to Him.

—Tolkien Translation[16]

Signed galders

Runic galders

The runic galder on the Högstena bronze plate (Vg 216).

During the Viking Age, there exist finds of galders written in runes, so-called runic galders (Swedish: rungalder), in addition to other forms of runic magic. Runic galders are found, among other things, written down on rune sticks (runstickor), or on rune plates (runbleck), such as the one on the 12th century Högstena bronze plate (Vg 216).[17]

The Högstena runic galder roughly goes:

Galder letters

En la Escandinavia medieval, un hechizo o encantamiento dibujado o escrito se llamaba "galder letter" ( sueco antiguo : galdra breff , sueco : galdrabrev , aproximadamente "hechizo escrito"). [ 19 ] Dicho, destinado a hacer invulnerable al portador, especialmente contra cortes y estocadas, podía usarse como amuleto y se llamaba "sword letter" ( sueco antiguo : swærdhbref , sueco : svärdsbrev ; danés antiguo : sværdbrev , danés : sværdbrev , noruego : sverdbrev ; bajo alemán medio : swertbref ). [ 20 ] Dicho podía llevarse alrededor del cuello, en un bolsillo o en la empuñadura de una espada. [ 21 ] Las fuentes de la época del Renacimiento danés mencionan tales usando tanto letras regulares como rúnicas , así como símbolos, y podían usarse también contra diversas enfermedades y desgracias. [ 21 ]

Este tipo de galder firmado fue posteriormente prohibido o criticado, especialmente durante la Reforma , que se pronunció en contra del uso del simbolismo y otros objetos mundanos para obtener ayuda sobrenatural. [ 21 ] Un extracto del manuscrito Själens tröst ( en sueco antiguo : Sjælinna Thrøst ), escrito alrededor de 1430, dice lo siguiente:

Traducción:

En 1526, el danés Poul Helgesen tradujo algunos de los escritos de Martín Lutero , y donde Lutero se pronunció en contra del uso de cartas para la protección sobrenatural, Helgesen utilizó el término «carta espada». [ 23 ]

Om wy bruge swerdtbreff , tegen, yrther, ordt, wyelsse, och andhen saadan tingh, som i then menningh icke andhet ære, endt sandt troldom, forth ther settis loffwe hasta thennom, oc missloffue hasta Gudt. [ 21 ]

Traducción:

Si usamos letras de espada , símbolos, incienso, palabras, bendiciones y otras cosas semejantes, que en ese sentido no son otra cosa que verdadera hechicería; pues por medio de ella se alaba a esas cosas y se insulta a Dios.

Sellos de Galder

There exist records from the 16th century of Icelandic Medieval magic sigils called "galder staves" (Icelandic: galdrastafir, roughly "incantation staves"), today commonly referred to as Icelandic magical staves in English. Such are popular with neopagans and New Age folk.

Famous examples includes the Ægishjálmur and Vegvísir.

See also

Notes

  1. 123The article Galder in Nationalencyklopedin (1992)
  2. 12345Steinsland, G. & Meulengracht Sørensen 1998:72
  3. 1234The article galder in Henrikson A., Törngren D. and Hansson L. (1998). Stora mythologiska uppslagsboken. ISBN 91-37-11346-1
  4. ↑gala– via Project Runeberg.
  5. ↑Konrad von AmmenhausenSchachzabelbuch 167b
  6. 12"galen". saob.se. Swedish Academy. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  7. 12The article Galdralag in Nationalencyklopedin (1992)
  8. 12The article galder in Nordisk familjebok (1908).
  9. ↑Turville-Petre, E.O.G (1964). Myth and Religion of the North: the Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. Holt, Rinehart and Wilson. ISBN 0-837174201.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  10. ↑Schön 2004:86
  11. ↑SkírnismálArchived 2007-09-10 at the National and University Library of Iceland at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad», Norway.
  12. ↑Skirnismol in translation by Henry Adams Bellows.
  13. ↑Oddrúnarkviða at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad», Norway.
  14. ↑The Lament of Oddrun in Henry Adams Bellows' translation.
  15. ↑"Beowulf". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  16. ↑Tolkien, J.R.R. (2014). Beowulf : a translation and commentary, together with Sellic spell. London: Harper Collins Publishers. p. 102. ISBN 9780007590070.
  17. ↑"Högstenableckets rungalder". pub.raa.se. Fornvännen. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  18. ↑"Vg 216". app.raa.se. Riksantikvarieämbetet (RAÄ). Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  19. ↑galder– via Project Runeberg.
  20. ↑"svärdsbrev sbst". saob.se. Swedish Academy. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  21. 1234"Sværdbrev". kalkarsordbog.dk. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  22. ↑Själinna Thröst– via Project Runeberg.
  23. ↑"Skrifter af Paulus Helie : Syvende Bind"(PDF). Retrieved 2026-03-20.

Bibliography

  • Schön, Ebbe. (2004). Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition. Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. ISBN 91-89660-41-2.
  • Steinsland, G. & Meulengracht Sørensen, P. (1998): Människor och makter i vikingarnas värld. ISBN 91-7324-591-7.